AUGUSTA, Ga. - Virginia Tech shot an opening-round 295 and is in ninth place at the Administaff/Augusta State Invitational at the par-72, 7,403-yard Champions Retreat Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., on Friday afternoon.

Aaron Eckstein (Fr., Salem, Va.) shot a one-over-par 73 and is tied for 25th place individually. Three golfers, Lucas Lee of UCLA, Gareth Snow of East Tennessee State and Chase McFarland of North Carolina each shot 69 and are tied for the lead.

All four of the Hokies' remaining golfers, Jurrian van der Vaart (Sr., Almelo, the Netherlands), Nick MacDonald (Sr., Harare, Zimbabwe), Drew Weaver (Jr., High Point, N.C.) and Marshall Bailey (Fr., Fincastle, Va.), each shot 74 and are tied for 35th place. The Hokies' four 74s were tied for the lowest non-counting score of any team in the first round.

UCLA shot an opening round four-under-par 284 and leads North Carolina by two strokes. Lamar is third at 287, Georgia Tech is fourth at 288 and NC State is fifth at 289. Georgia is sixth at 290, USC-Aiken is seventh at 291 and East Tennessee State is eighth at 293, two strokes ahead of the Hokies. South Carolina and Clemson are tied for 10th at 296 and Georgia Southern and Georgia State are tied for 12th at 297. Host Augusta State, Tennessee and Houston are tied for 14th at 299, Coastal Carolina is 17th at 301 and Minnesota is 18th at 303.

The tournament, an annual precursor to the Masters, features six of the top 12 teams in the country, as ranked by Golfstat.com. Fourteen of the 17 Division I teams in the event are ranked in the top 50 and USC-Aiken is ranked third in Division II this season.

The second round will be played on Saturday and the third round will begin Sunday morning. Competing teams are afforded the opportunity to watch Monday's practice round at the Masters. Hokie golfer Drew Weaver will compete in the Masters this season as a result of an exemption earned by winning the 2007 British Amateur Championship in June.